Top Ten Golf Course Photos 2017

Here is a list of my top ten golf course photographs for the year. It's been a busy one and a very enjoyable one, too.

1. Portstewart Golf Club, in the weeks before the Irish Open, looked magnificent. For a photographer, the light was glorious. I could have chosen all 10 'best' photos from those taken in these towering dunes... but I've landed on two. The angle for this shot of the 6th green is unusual (the tee is to the right of the sand, about 2 o'clock) but the flag, overwhelmed by the dunes, demonstrates perfectly what you will face at this links.

The 6th green, Portstewart Golf Club

2. The 2nd hole at Portstewart is a short par four. This lone golfer shows the scale of

Is Doonbeg Coming Up Trumps?

View from the 9th green back to The Lodge.

There is only one thing that interests me in the whole media mêlée surrounding Donald Trump’s purchase of Doonbeg…

Is it good for Irish golf?

It’s good for Trump, no question. An estimated €15 million purchase must be the bargain of the year compared with the €110 million he spent constructing just the Scottish course in Aberdeen.

Everyone is falling over themselves to say how wonderful it is to have Trump saving Doonbeg, saving/creating jobs, investing millions, creating a world class resort, instigating world peace and saving mankind. Trump is saying pretty much the same thing: he’s not shy… or modest. But then you don’t get to be as powerful and rich as him without stepping on toes and charging around like a bull in a china shop.

Adare Manor & Golf Resort – A Sawgrass Special

[Adare's infamous and beautiful 18th, where Richard Finch fell in the water on the way to winning the Irish Open]

There are many great ways to play the big courses in this country, and you can often do it for a fraction of the price. You just have to keep your eyes peeled for the offers, or have the nerve to phone up and dictate the terms. I favour the former approach!

Adare Manor & Golf Resort has a great offer on at the moment. And let’s be honest, as Parkland courses go, they don’t get grander or more glamorous than Adare. It was given the highest ranking of any parkland in Golf Digest Ireland’s Top 100 Course Ranking, If you can rustle up three mates and play as a fourball, they have a competition that could see you playing at Adare and then on to Sawgrass in the USA. And all for €75.

I’ve lifted these details from the site:

Adare Golf Club is proud to present The Summer Twilight Sawgrass Golf Challenge
Entry free for a team of four is €75.00 per person
11th May to 28th August 2009
Monday to Friday after 2.00pm

One team will qualify weekly to play in the regional final at Adare Golf Club on 30th August 2009. The qualifying team at the regional final will then go forward to take part in a Grand Final in Sawgrass Golf Resort & Spa on 24th September 2009. This trip includes return flights, accommodation, golf and car hire.

Approved by the R&A for payment of expenses. Rule 4-2g RA/25/2009

Terms & Conditions Apply

Download The Summer Twilight Sawgrass Golf Challenge pdf (go to: http://www.adaremanor.com/sawgrass-golf-challenge)

For further information contact: 00 353 61 605274 or email: golf@adaremanor.com

And good luck.

There are plenty of great courses in this area and, if you happen to be heading for the links courses on the west coast, you’d be making a mistake to pass this beauty by.